BAGHDAD, Iraq — A television cameraman working for The Associated Press was shot to death by insurgents while covering clashes Tuesday in the northern city of Mosul, police said.Aswan Ahmed Lutfallah, 35, was having his car repaired in an industrial area in the eastern part of the city when insurgents and police began fighting nearby and he rushed to cover the clash, police Brig. Abdul-Karim Ahmed Khalaf said.
Insurgents spotted him filming, approached him and shot him to death, Khalaf said, citing an initial report. Lutfallah had not reported any prior threats against him.
Lutfallah had been employed by AP Television News as a cameraman in Mosul since 2005. He is survived by his wife, Alyaa Abdul-Karim Salim, a 6-year-old son, Yusof, and an infant daughter, Rafa.
“Our hearts go out to Aswan’s family and his Iraqi AP colleagues,” said AP President and CEO Tom Curley. “The murder of yet another journalist underscores the particular dangers of this conflict and the sacrifices of those committed to reporting the story.”
Lutfallah was the second AP cameraman to be shot to death in the city in 21 months.
Maybe Ann or Michelle or Melanie Morgan could explain to this man’s family how he was an Islamofascist appeaser and they’re glad he’s dead, but deeply sorry that they didn’t get the chance to kill him themselves with their own bare claws.
Because, you know, when people like that call for the death of journalists, it’s not abstract, it’s not impersonal, it’s not performance art and it’s sure as fuck not funny. It’s people like these they’re talking about. I shouldn’t have to explain the universe at large why wishing for someone’s death isn’t cute, but these vicious harpies keep being put in front of a microphone and given leave to say things like this and this and this under the guise of “well, they represent the views of a lot of people out there” (so do child molesters) or some free speech argument (as if MSNBC is Open Mic Night at the HaHa Komedy Klub and everybody gets the same access), so clearly somebody important missed a memo. I’ll say it slowly so that person gets it all:
Unless you rejoice in Mr. Lutfallah’s death, unless deep down in your soul you cheered when the news came over the wires, you ought to think twice about putting on your shows those who do.
His daughter was born just this year. This is who they’re talking about. People like these.
Update:More from the AP:
“I think among our Iraqi staff, what you often feel is a great sense of responsibility to their country, a great wish that the world knows what’s happening to Iraq. People work for many motives. But what you really sense I think is among many of our staff, is a will to resist the insanity and try to do something constructive in the face of this insanity. And yes, they could put up their cameras and put away their notebooks and leave the country, but what you often hear them tell you is, “This is my country. I cannot leave.”
A.